Dimensions of Culture

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07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 159C H A P T E R 7Dimensions of CultureWhat You Can Learn From This ChapterCultural dimensions and examples of countriesCultural dimensions important to understanding JapanCultural dimensions important to understanding ChinaIn 1980, the Dutch management researcher Geert Hofstede first publishedthe results of his study of more than 100,000 employees of the multinationalIBM in 40 countries (Hofstede, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1997, 2001). Hofstedewas attempting to locate value dimensions across which cultures vary. Hisdimensions have been frequently used to describe cultures.Hofstede identified four dimensions that he labeled individualism, masculinity,power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. His individualism-collectivism dimen-sion describes cultures from loosely structured to tightly integrated. The masculinity-femininity dimension describes how a culture’s dominant values are assertive ornurturing. Power distance refers to the distribution of influence within a culture.And uncertainty avoidance reflects a culture’s tolerance of ambiguity and accep-tance of risk.Hofstede and Bond (1984; also see Chinese Culture Connection, 1987) iden-tified a fifth dimension, a Confucian dynamism labeled long-term orientationversus short-term orientation to life. The Confucian dynamism dimensiondescribes cultures that range from short-term values with respect for traditionand reciprocity in social relations to long-term values with persistence andordering relationships by status.15907-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 160160CHAPTER 7When reading this chapter, and particularly when reading the lists ofcountries that exhibit or fail to exhibit each dimension, you might think ofexceptions: individuals from a culture who do not act as might be impliedby these lists. These lists reflect an overall average; no one person should beexpected to fit that average exactly. Indeed, to expect so would be stereotyping.FOCUS ON THEORYYoung Yun Kim (2005) characterizes individualism-collectivism as top of the list of theo-ries guiding cross-cultural research in communication, psychology, and anthropology.Individualist cultures stress self-direction and self-achievement; collectivist cultures stress in-group loyalty and conformity. This rich area of research has focused on competition andcooperation, conversational constraints, handling disagreements, silence, face work and con-flict style, and in-group and out-group communication patterns.Kim (2005) draws a relationship with individualism-collectivism and Hall’s (1976) theoryof high and low context cultures (see Chapter 3). Characterizations of high- and low-contextcommunication systems are closely associated with the characteristics of individualism andcollectivism.INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISMFirst is individualism versus collectivism. This dimension refers to how peopledefine themselves and their relationships with others. In an individualist culture,the interest of the individual prevails over the interests of the group. Tiesbetween individuals are loose. People look after themselves and their immediatefamilies. Masakazu (1994) defines modern individualism as “a view of human-ity that justifies inner beliefs and unilateral self-assertion, as well as competitionbased on these” (p. 127). In a collectivist culture, the interest of the group pre-vails over the interest of the individual. People are integrated into strong, cohe-sive in-groups that continue throughout a lifetime to protect in exchange forunquestioning loyalty (Hofstede, 1997). One difference is reflected in who istaken into account when you set goals. In individualist cultures, goals are setwith minimal consideration given to groups other than perhaps your immediatefamily. In collectivist cultures, other groups are taken into account in a majorway when goals are set. Individualist cultures are loosely integrated; collectivistcultures are tightly integrated.In individualist cultures such as the United States, for example, when meet-ing a new person, you want to know what that person does. You tend to definepeople by what they have done, their accomplishments, what kind of car they07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 161Dimensions of Culture161drive, or where they live. Individualist cultures are more remote and distant(see examples in Table 7.1).Table 7.1Individualism Rankings for 50 Countries and Three Regions1United States28Turkey2Australia29Uruguay3Great Britain30Greece4/5Canada31Philippines4/5The Netherlands32Mexico6New Zealand33/35East Africa7Italy33/35Yugoslavia8Belgium33/35Portugal9Denmark36Malaysia10/11Sweden37Hong Kong10/11France38Chile12Ireland39/41West Africa13Norway39/41Singapore14Switzerland39/41Thailand15Germany (F.R.)42El Salvador16South Africa43South Korea17Finland44Taiwan18Austria45Peru19Israel46Costa Rica20Spain47/48Pakistan21India47/48Indonesia22/23Japan49Colombia22/23Argentina50Venezuela24Iran51Panama25Jamaica52Ecuador26/27Brazil53Guatemala26/27Arab countriesSOURCE: Hofstede (2001, Exhibit 5.1, p. 215).Cultures characterized by collectivism emphasize relationships among peopleto a greater degree. Collectivist cultures stress interdependent activities and sup-pressing individual aims for the group’s welfare. Often, it is difficult for individ-uals from highly individualist cultures to understand collectivist values. Thisexample may help: A student from Colombia may study in the United States andearn a Ph.D., teach at a distinguished university, and publish important books,but when he returns to visit Colombia, people to whom he is introduced will07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 162162CHAPTER 7want to know to whom he is related. Colombians want to know who his familyis because that places him in society much more so than any of his accomplish-ments in the United States.In the United States, there are few family names—perhaps only Rockefeller,Kennedy, DuPont, Getty—that carry such defining meaning. You are not sociallydefined by your family name but by your individual accomplishments. A gener-ation or two ago, people were introduced by family name, and a new acquain-tance then asked permission to use one’s given name. The asking and giving ofpermission was an important stage in the development of a friendship. Today’sintroduction by one’s given name only makes no reference to one’s family.Individualism is so strong in the United States that you might even have difficultyappreciating how people might feel content in a collectivist culture. Contentmentcomes from knowing your place and from knowing you have a place.In the workplace, in individualist cultures, the employer-employee relation-ship tends to be established by contract, and hiring and promotion decisions arebased on skills and rules; in collectivist cultures, the employer-employee rela-tionship is perceived in moral terms, like a family link, and hiring and pro-motion decisions take the employee’s in-group into account. Hofstede’s datarevealed several associations with this dimension:Wealth. There is a strong relationship between a nation’s wealth andindividualism.Geography. Countries with moderate and cold climates tend to showmore individualism.Birth rates. Countries with higher birth rates tend to be collectivist.History. Confucian countries are collectivist. Migrants from Europe whopopulated North America, Australia, and New Zealand tended to be suffi-ciently individualist to leave their native countries.Another interesting association with inheritance practices was developed byKnighton (1999). Those cultures that have rules for equal partition of parentalproperty among all offspring tend to be collectivist; those that have rules per-mitting unequal partition and those that have historically allowed parents tohave full freedom in deciding who will inherit tend to be individualist.Individualism and collectivism have been associated with direct and indirectstyles of communication—that is, the extent to which speakers reveal intentionsthrough explicit verbal communication. In the direct style, associated withindividualism, the wants, needs, and desires of the speaker are embodied in thespoken message. In the indirect style, associated with collectivism, the wants,needs, and goals of the speaker are not obvious in the spoken message.Rojjanaprapayon (1997), for example, demonstrated specific communication07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 163Dimensions of Culture163strategies in Thai communication: Thais do not use specific names when theyexpress negative feelings; Thais tend to use words and phrases expressing prob-ability, such as “maybe,” “probably,” “sometimes,” “likely,” and “I would sayso, but I am not sure”; Thais do not show their feelings if doing so would makethe other person feel bad; and Thais also use indirect nonverbal communicationby having less or avoiding eye contact and keeping greater personal distance.Case Study: Japan as a Homogeneous CultureFrom Hofstede’s (1983) research, Japan is placed about in the middle betweenindividualism and collectivism. Yet Japan is popularly stereotyped as a group-oriented culture. In a 1995 study of Japanese students using the original Hofstedequestionnaires, Woodring found that students scored higher on individualismand lower on power distance than Hofstede’s original sample. Woodring explainedthat the higher individualism and lower power distance score might be explainedby age; that is, Japanese college students may value individualism and equalitymore than Japanese society does as a whole. Hofstede’s longitudinal study didshow that national wealth and individualism were related. About 1990, the termshin jin rui (literally “new human beings”) was applied to youths 25 years oldand younger, who were described by older Japanese as “selfish, self-centered,and disrespectful of elders and tradition.” Hofstede’s study suggested that theJapanese were group oriented, hierarchical, and formal. There are reasons to sug-gest that at least younger Japanese prefer moderately egalitarian distribution ofpower and feel moderately independent of collective thought and action. Thisdemonstrates that we should avoid allowing the Hofstede research to become astereotype. In 1986, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone described Japan as beinga “homogeneous” country—a widely held view by Japanese society at large. Inthe following descriptions of Japan’s history, religion, and cultural patterns,identify specific ways that homogeneity affects communication.FOCUS ON THEORYMiike (2004) believes that Asian scholars can “paint a number of wonderful portraits abouthumanity and communication.” Miike’s own portrait of communication is as “a processin which we remind ourselves of the interdependence and interrelatedness of the universe. . . communication is a process in which we experience the oneness of the universe” (p. 74).In this portrait, we can transcend the illusion of separateness, of fragmentation, and gaina glimpse of the larger relationship of what often appear to be discrete aspects of life(Miike, 2003).07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 164164CHAPTER 7HistoryJapan is an archipelago formed by four large islands and more than 3,000small islands covering 377,835 square kilometers, roughly the size of California.More than 80% of the land surface is hilly or mountainous, leaving only 20%that is flat enough for farming. Hence, Japan imports a large amount of its foodand relies heavily on the ocean. Seafood is a staple in the Japanese diet, andJapan is the world’s leading producer of fish. As an island nation, Japan willnever be fully self-sufficient. It must export in order to import materials it needsto survive.The population of Japan is approximately 126 million, equivalent to about halfof the U.S. population, and inhabits only 4% of the land area, which translates toa population density of about 850 people per square mile; in the United States, thecomparable density is 58. Japan is divided into 47 administrative units or prefec-tures. More than 78% of Japan’s population live in urban areas, with approxi-mately 45% of the population living in the three major metropolitan areas ofTokyo (the largest city in the world), Osaka, and Nagoya. Japan’s origins are notclear. It is thought that Chinese culture as it passed through Korea was seminal.Japan is known as the Land of the Rising Sun, as is symbolized on its flag.Founded early in the Christian era, Japan has been ruled by a line of emperors thatcontinues to the present. According to legend, all Japanese are genealogicallyrelated to the emperor at some distant point. In pre–World War II Japan, theemperor was worshiped as a living god. Hirohito was the emperor from 1926 untilhis death in 1989. Tradition dictated that a full year of mourning pass followedby a full season to plant and harvest a crop of sacred rice before his son Akihitocould be formally enthroned as a symbolic constitutional monarch in 1990.Two key points characterize Japanese history: more than 10,000 years ofculture continuity and the ability to adapt imported culture and technology tothe traditional culture. After Perry’s arrival with battleships in 1853, Japantransformed itself from a feudal country into an industrialized nation by adapt-ing Western technology. Later, from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s, urbanJapanese experienced U.S. fashions, movies, and music. Following World WarII, Japan again adopted more Western culture. The postwar constitution draftedby Allied occupation authorities and approved by the Japanese Parliament madeJapan a constitutional monarchy. The new constitution also renounced war andforbade the use of military forces for offensive purposes. Again because of theU.S.-inspired postwar constitution, Japan maintains only a defense force; overthe period 1960–1988, 0.9% of its gross national product was spent on defense.(In the same period, the United States spent 6.4%.) Japan now pays several bil-lion dollars annually to subsidize U.S. military bases in Japan. In response tocriticism for not providing troops in the 1991 Gulf War, Japan approved pro-viding troops for the United Nations’s peacekeeping operations in noncombat07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 165Dimensions of Culture165Mt. Fuji.roles in East Timor, Cambodia, and Afghanistan and later in Iraq and is becom-ing more engaged in world security issues.Even after a decade of poor economic performance, Japan remains theworld’s second or third largest economy with several world-class companiesthat are technological leaders and household names. Japan is a major foreigninvestor and a major foreign aid donor. Japanese life and language are Westernized.U.S. popular culture reaches Japan more quickly than it reaches parts of theUnited States. English loan words in the Japanese language grow at a fast rate.Japan’s Westernization has been criticized by some Asian countries.ReligionJapan is one of the most homogeneous countries in the world: More than95% of its population is Japanese; Koreans, Chinese, and native Ainu constitutethe remaining 5%. In 1997, Japan’s parliament voted to replace a century-oldlaw that forced the Ainu to assimilate. The Ainu were recognized by the UnitedNations as a native people in 1992 but still face discrimination in Japan.Except among the older people, religion is not a strong force. Christianity wasbrought to Japan by Jesuit missionaries in 1549. Although less than 1% of thepopulation is Christian, Christian lifestyles, moral codes, and ethics have becomepart of Japanese life. The majority of the population traditionally practices a07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 166166CHAPTER 7syncretistic combination of Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is exclusively national-istic. It was the state religion from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 until the end ofWorld War II. It is not so much a creed as it is a link to ancestors and Gods.Shinto means “the way of the Gods” and has three predominant ideas: worshipof the Gods of Japan, loyalty to Japan, and cultivation of a pure Japanese spirit.Almost all Japanese are born Shinto. It is said that to be Japanese and to be aShintoist are synonymous. There are two types of Shintoism: Popular Shinto,which has its strength in the home, and Sect Shinto, which believes in reincarna-tion and service to humanity as service to God. A third type, State Shinto, whichtaught that the Japanese were separate from other races, excelling in virtue, intel-ligence, and courage, was abolished by order of the Allies in 1945.Buddhism came to Japan from Korea in the mid-6th century. There are morethan 200 sects of Buddhism in Japan, with wide differences in doctrines.Buddhism has been called the “adopted faith of Japan” and centers on the tem-ple and the family altar. Most households observe some ceremonies of bothreligions, such as a Shinto wedding and a Buddhist funeral. Overall, though,religion is more a social tradition than a conviction. Some charge that due to alack of religious beliefs, the Japanese have no principles. Meditation, aestheticappreciation, ritual cleansing, and a respect for nature’s beauty and humans’part in it are important cultural beliefs.BOX 7.1Buddhism WorldwideSiddhartha Gautama (563–483 B.C.E.) was born in southern Nepal. He soughtsupreme truth in meditation and became Buddha, “the enlightened one.” Buddhistdoctrine first took hold in northern India. Over the centuries, monks spread the reli-gion throughout much of Asia. Today, Buddhism includes a wide variety of sectsgrouped into three primary branches: Hinayana, Mahayana (including Zen), andTantrism. With 350 million adherents, Buddhism is the world’s fourth largest reli-gion behind Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Buddhism accepted the basic con-cepts of Hinduism—including reincarnation and the law of karma, which holds thatone’s actions directly control one’s destiny—but opposed the rituals and hardeningcaste system of Hinduism.Buddhism stresses ethics as the means to salvation. It offers the “middle way”that avoids the extremes of mortification and indulgence. Following the “nobleeightfold path” of right living and actions frees the adherent of self who can thenachieve nirvana—the state of bliss in which humans escape the law of reincarnation.07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 167Dimensions of Culture167Largest Buddhist Populations (in millions)CountryBuddhist Population Percentage of Total PopulationJapan 91.0a74China 63.36Thailand 52.594Burma (Myanmar)36.588Vietnam 36.151South Korea 15.437SOURCE: Compiled from the Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1991, p. H6.a. Includes Japanese who adhere to both Shintoism and Buddhism.A study by Hajime Nakamura (1964) of the National Institute of Scienceand Technology Policy in Japan asked citizens to name aspects of their countryof which they were proudest. Topping that list was Japan’s maintenance ofsocial order, followed by its natural beauty, its history and traditions, the dili-gence and talent of its people, the high level of education, the country’s pros-perity, and its culture and arts.Cultural PatternsCritical to understanding the cultural patterns of Japan is the homogeneity ofits population, although some would argue that Japan is not all that homoge-neous. However, the cultural myth of homogeneity is believed and therefore isan important cultural concept. Because it is an island country and hence borderson no other countries, Japan had been little affected by foreign influence until1853. Japan’s isolation means that its history is its own. Everyone shares thesame ideas and, lacking outside influences, has no reason to doubt them. Inaddition, as a small, densely populated country, its ideas and information areeasily shared. Even the tradition of rice growing contributes to a society basedon cooperation, minimizing conflict, and enhanced cooperation, which, like therice, are all necessary for survival.Japan’s homogeneity contributes to its people’s “communication without lan-guage” (Tsujimura, 1968, 1987). It is said that being monolingual and monoracial07-Jandt 5e-(V-5).qxd 7/13/2006 1:35 PM Page 168168CHAPTER 7makes it easy for Japanese to understand each other with few words. The UnitedStates, with its high level of diversity, is verbose—more talking is required to over-come diverse languages, diverse lifestyles, and diverse ways of feeling and think-ing. Japanese axioms teach that verbosity is dangerous: “Least said, soonestmended” and “Out of the mouth comes evil.” Today, the education system main-tains those same cultural values. All schools have the same curriculum. Schoolshave uniforms and encourage students to take part in after-school group activities.Japanese worldview is consistent with that of an isolated island. There is nodifferentiation: People from the United States, Europe, and other parts of Asiaare foreigners. The world is divided into Japan and others: gaikoku, or outsidenation, and gaijin, or outside person.Japan has often been described as a society in which conflict is avoided byemphasizing homogeneity and dismissing differentness as incidental. The Japanesedo not have the same perception of self as an individual that is typical in the UnitedStates; instead, the Japanese feel most comfortable with others who empathize.To be completely understood, people have to cooperate in the same context, andin doing so, there can be no differentiation of individuals. In such an extremelyhomogeneous society, you are not seen as an individual, nor do you regard indi-vidualism as a positive trait. It has been said that group life is to the Japanese whatindividualism is to the United States. Homogeneity is the core value of society thatsubstantially defines other values and permeates all areas of life. This social inter-dependence has been referred to by Takeo Doi (1956, 1973) as amae (noun thatcomes from the verb amaeru, which means to look to others for support and affec-tion). Amae is the feeling of nurturing for and dependence on another. Amae is asense of complete dependence based on a wish to be loved and cared for uncondi-tionally. It develops in the relationship between mother and child and later trans-fers to the child’s teachers and others in positions of authority. Amae is a reciprocalrelationship. Just as the child is dependent on the mother, the mother is dependenton the child, which arises from the need to be needed. Amae, with its emphasis oninterdependence, contrasts sharply with individualism. (See Box 7.2 for a descrip-tion of how the game of baseball reflects Japanese cultural patterns.)BOX 7.2Sporty Japanese ImportBaseball is not new to Japan. It dates back to 1873, when American teachers andmissionaries organized the first formal game. It spread throughout schools, for theJapanese felt it taught self-denial and moral discipline. Some teams included Zenmeditation and emphasized purity of spirit. American teams such as the Giants and

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Dimensions of Culture

I n 1980, the Dutch management researcher Geert Hofstede first published the results of his study of more than 100,000 employees of the multinational IBM in 40 countries (Hofstede, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1997, 2001). Hofstede was attempting to locate value dimensions across which cultures vary. His dimensions have been frequently used to describe cultures. Hofstede identified four dimensions that he labeled individualism, masculinity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. His individualism-collectivism dimension describes cultures from loosely structured to tightly integrated. The masculinity- femininity dimension describes how a culture's dominant values are assertive or nurturing. Power distance refers to the distribution of influence within a culture. And uncertainty avoidance reflects a culture's tolerance of ambiguity and acceptance of risk.

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